Person Old Testament
Jaddai
Also known as Jaddai =ESV, NIV, LQ; Jadau =KJV, LK
Jaddai was among the Israelites who agreed to put away their foreign wives during Ezra's reforms. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Ezra 10:43.
Why it matters. Israelite who agreed to put away his foreign wife.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Jaddai
Jaddai is mentioned briefly in Ezr.10.43 as one of the Israelites who had married foreign women. This occurred during the time of Ezra, a priest and scribe who led a significant reform movement among the Jews who had returned from Babylonian exile.
Upon his return to Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that many of the Israelites, including priests and Levites, had intermarried with the pagan peoples of the land, going against God's commands (Ezr.9.1-2). This was seen as a serious violation of the covenant and a threat to the spiritual purity of the community.
After Ezra's prayer of confession and the people's repentance (Ezr.9.3-10.1), the Israelites made a covenant to put away their foreign wives and children (Ezr.10.2-5). Jaddai is listed among those who agreed to this decision and took an oath to follow through with the separation (Ezr.10.43).
No other details are provided about Jaddai's life, family, or the specific circumstances of his marriage to a foreign woman. His inclusion in this list, however, highlights the widespread nature of the intermarriage problem and the importance of the reforms initiated by Ezra to restore obedience to God's law and maintain the spiritual integrity of the Jewish community.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Ezra (1 verse)